Plan
by Razzer
Summary: Arturo Plateado used his time wisely while trapped in Central 46. Using both Ichigo and Aizen to escape, he takes over Las Noches and takes control of the Espada. Now he will take out his revenge on the Soul Society.
1. Introduction

**Hey guys. I couldn't get enough of writing about Arturo Plateado, so I started writing a new fic about him. So far, he's the only main character, but I'm planning to insert various other characters that you know and love from "Hollowed". Although the story is different and nobody's related (thankfully), I hope to bring everyone back together. Enjoy!**

Introduction

I don't even want to think about how long I was down there, trapped in the depths of the void that is Central 46. It's dark, cold, and unpleasant down there… the typical prison setting, only 100 times worse. Spread the prisoner's sentence out over a millennia or two, and your typical soul would go insane very quickly. However, me being an Arrancar, I didn't mind. In fact, it gave me the perfect place and state of mind to plot how to get out of there, and when. Several hundred years, although a little long and boring, is the perfect time span to think out a very nice plan for revenge, and after doing so, I could finally see that the only way that Aizen Souske could carry out his amazing plan is because he planned it from the very beginning, tactfully.

But where he got the _idea_ to do it, I have no knowledge. He may have his own, twisted reasons for betraying everyone in the Soul Society and then running off to create an Arrancar Army, but whatever reason it was, it fit quite well into my own plan. I might have been trapped underneath that wretched place for what seemed eternity, but the old equipment down there allowed me to follow his events closely, and therefore I learned everything about the entire situation right along with the Shinigami – although they are extraordinarily dumb-witted and slow. It took them several months to figure out what Aizen was doing, when I spotted his plot much, much sooner.

Anyway, the real reason that I followed Aizen so closely was because I knew I could use him. I had the perfect plan for the perfect escape, and all I needed was the right time and the right person. That right person was coming here now. That right person was Ichigo Kurosaki.

He was arriving in the Soul Society now. I could tell because I was standing in front of those old, dilapidated screens that showed me what was going on up there. I had heard the other shinigami talking of it unceasingly throughout the previous days, and I knew that the time had finally arrived for me to get out of here… almost, anyway. I watched, satisfied, as the Senkaimon opened slowly and a Hell Butterfly came through, followed closely not only by Kurosaki, but four of his friends; an orange-haired human girl, a black-haired shinigami, a Quincy, and a brown-haired, tall human boy. I sighed. What a strange arrangement. Nevertheless, I watched calmly as lieutenant Abarai, who had been waiting, greeted them.

"Hey there Ichigo," said the red-haired lieutenant offhandedly as the group stepped through the tunnel. "Long time no see, eh?"

"Yeah," replied the orange-haired substitute, in his spirit form. He looked around for a moment, and then greeted his friend. "So how've you been, Renji?"

"As good as ever," replied Abarai. He spotted the short, raven-haired shinigami as she stepped out of the Senkaimon last. "And hello again Rukia. The human world nice?"

"Not with Ichigo yelling in my ear about every last Hollow on planet Earth," she scoffed, rolling her eyes and stepping beside the red-haired lieutenant. Kurosaki shot her an annoyed look, but remained quiet.

"We came because we heard there was trouble," the Qincy spoke up suddenly, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of nose. This one was more sensible – getting to the point faster was always better.

"Ah yes," said Abarai, rubbing the back of his head as the two humans stood back quietly. "You'd better come see Captain Kuchiki. He'll be taking you to the captain's meeting. Come on."

"What's the trouble, exactly, again?" the orange-haired girl suddenly piped up, looking nervous. "Something to do with Aizen?" Abarai nodded as they walked through the Sereitei towards the captain's meeting place. I peered at them without their knowledge.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied the lieutenant nervously as they walked. "Shinigami everywhere around the Sereitei have been reporting that they heard Aizen talking to nobody about all sorts of things, but only in the late night hours, when they were only half awake. We would discredit them for crazy insomniac statements, but unfortunately, everyone's been hearing it. Even me, and a few of the captains."

"Aizen's _voice_ you say?" Kurosaki asked loudly as they walked. "At night, in the Sereitei?"

"Yes, that IS what I said," replied Abarai, rolling his eyes. "We don't know yet if this is good or bad, but it appears that he is laying out another plan of some sort."

"Eh?" the group asked, as I smirked.

"Yes, he's apparently planning to attack the Soul Society somewhere around tomorrow, which is why you're all here," said the lieutenant. He glanced at the human girl. "Except you. I don't really know why you're here. I mean- OW!"

"Renji you idiot!" the younger Kuchiki roared, kicking her friend in the face heartily. "Don't say things like that! Orihime's here to help, and she can probably do a better job than you, so apologize!"

"N-no, it's ok Rukia-chan!" the girl laughed nervously, holding up her hands in protest. "I'm not really-,"

"Go on, apologize!" Kuchiki shouted, pinning Abarai to the ground and holding his arms behind his back.

"Ow! OW! Fine! I apologize! I apologize! Sorry!" the lieutenant cried, struggling to get up. Satisfied, the younger Kuchiki kicked him in the back of the head strongly and then leaped back to stand by the group, all of which were now facepalming, except the girl.

"That was nice Rukia-chan, but did you have to hurt Renji-kun?" the human girl asked.

"No, I'm fine," replied Abarai, wincing, as he rose. Kurosaki began laughing heartily at this point, but was quickly silenced by the short shinigami with a swift kick.

"Ow," he said.

"Right… come on then," Abarai said, turning and limping in the direction of the captain's meeting place once more. "Captain Kuchiki's waiting for us, and we can't keep him like that for much longer."

"Right," they all said in unison, falling into step behind him and heading in that direction as well. I watched them for another moment, and then finally turned my gaze away and walked towards another part of the room. I could wait until they were done with their petty captain's meeting, and then wait for tonight to strike. They would all be waiting for it, I knew.

This voice of Aizen's that they were hearing wasn't actually Aizen's at all. It was mine, doing my best to impersonate the ex-captain to put everyone on edge by laying out a plan. This interesting little sub-plan was also mine too, and it fit quite well into my main one, but really it wasn't anything but a bunch of senseless babbling about Hueco Mundo and the Arrancars, and the occasional insert about attacking the Soul Society. It's so easy to confuse people who are half asleep.

Grinning, I turned and started slowly pacing back and forth along through the dark room, listening to the group's careless banter through a thick fuzzy static, and waiting for them to end their little chat and get to where they were going. I was eventually rewarded, and I heard them be greeted by Kuchiki Byakuya, and then led off towards the meeting minus Abarai and the younger Kuchiki. The meeting itself was brief, simply retelling Abarai's words to Kurosaki's group in a more serious manner, and then telling Kruosaki that since he was becoming more and more powerful, he would help them try and find where this voice was coming from, and to capture or it.

And that's just what I wanted.

I chuckled to myself and waited – waited for darkness to arrive.

Many hours later, I was ready. Darkness had come and wrapped itself around the Soul Society thickly, the perfect asset in trying to give less hardy souls a good scare. I laughed under my breath and walked over slowly towards one of the pieces of equipment that I had found able to communicate to the Sereitei with. It was old, and hardly used, but I found that this made the effect even more believable to the outside world. The only downside is that it came over a set of old wide speakers that the Soul Society used to use to transport messages, but now the system was too old and out of date to use, so I had taken use of it. However, none of them had found its source yet.

I went over all the aspects in my mind quickly once more as I stood before the old broadcast system. If all went according to this early stage of the plan, this would be the second to last time that I would have to use the equipment before I got to escape from this wretched place. My lips twitching into a smile, I finally reached forward with my hand, cleared my throat, and then pressed the broadcast button. They were all waiting for a show, so I would give them one.

"…_attacking soon in the Soul Society,"_ I started with, although half of my sentence was cut off by the old faults in the system. No matter, it added to the effect. I glanced up at the screen and saw the group, all waiting and tense, perk up immediately at the sound of my voice.

"I heard it!" Kurosaki whispered harshly, sitting up straighter. Everyone else sat up too and became silent. I laughed inwardly.

"_The mission…. Murder those who…. Unworthy…," _I continued, my accent completely covered up and replaced with my best replica of Aizen's calmer voice. The group's reaction was to rise, and start searching the room, talking in low, worried whispers. I smirked and continued. "_…kill… Society under cover of…. Then Kurosaki and…"_ I stopped again, fully enjoying the shocked look on Kurosaki's face.

"Now that didn't sound good," he muttered. His eyes suddenly found one of the old speakers, resting in the corner of the room, cackling slightly with static, but very quietly. "Hey Renji, who uses these speakers?"

"Nobody," replied Abarai, looking up and then scratching his head. "They went out of service 50 to 100 years ago."

"Then why are they on?" asked the human boy, tapping it. He was quicker than the rest, and I was impressed to a certain degree.

"I have no idea," Abarai said.

"…_my plan is complete."_ I finished. I removed my finger from the button and turned to watch the unfolding scene with my arms crossed, my eyebrow lifting as the human Kurosaki figured it all out step by step.

"Hmm…" said the boy. "Renji, where do the original lines lead to?"

"Anywhere," replied Abarai. "But the main broadcast system is in the old headquarters for Central 46."

"Central 46?" asked the Quincy suddenly. "Isn't that where Toshiro said Aizen fought him the first time?"

"Yeah, but that was the newer addition," replied Abarai after a moment. "These speakers were connected the old section but nobody bothered to replace them."

"Then that's where we're going to have to go!" Kurosaki announced, hurriedly heading for the door. "That's the only place Aizen could be broadcasting his messages from to scare the Soul Society!"

"Ichigo wait!" the Quincy called suddenly, leaping up and shouting at him. "Aizen is in Hueco Mundo!" For a moment Kurosaki paused in the doorway, but then he turned.

"Or maybe that's what he wants us to think," replied Ichigo. The Quincy snapped his mouth shut, not sure of how to responded. Kurosaki continued. "Renji, get some of the captains. If Aizen is down there, we'll need to catch him off guard… and finish him off."

"Right," Abarai nodded slowly, as if not sure what else to do. He ran off in one direction towards the captain's quarters, but after a moment, Kurosaki kept heading in the direction of my prison.

"Ichigo, where are you going?" The Quincy and the others shouted, racing after him.

"I have to face Aizen," he replied through gritted teeth. I laughed outright.

"Come, Kurosaki, come," I sneered at the screen. "It's not Aizen waiting for you though… not yet." I turned and started to slowly pace again, my mind at rest. So far, it was all working.

My plan? To escape this wretched place and then gather the army I need to complete my mission to erase all Soul Reapers.

My name?

Arturo Plateado.

**I'll start writing Chapter 1 as soon as I can.**


	2. Chapter 1: Anti Armistice

**Well, this is the first time I've ever written about Yamamoto. (I hate him anyways, blugh) So here you are! The first chapter of my first story from the villain's point of view, as they go on a quest to kill the good guys. I feel evil.**

**Disclaimer: I own everything in the world except Bleach. Kubo Tite owns that. ;)**

Chapter 1

The night passed more slowly than I probably would have liked, but it couldn't be helped. I paced around the few square yards of flooring that I had chosen to use as a headquarters around the old equipment, occasionally glancing at the screens and watching Kurosaki and his friends gather some of the captains. The process for _that_ took much, much longer than I had anticipated, and I ended up watching the screens with such utter boredom that I was tempted to fall asleep. (luckily, Arrancars don't need sleep, so I didn't.)

Really, the Soul Society is so official, it can take days to get something decided on.

At least this time it only lasted a few hours, so they came down right at the peak of night, when I most needed them too. Before they did so, however, I had to watch intently as they gathered themselves at the top of the newer Central 46 entryway, mulling about and speaking in low tones to themselves. There was much talk about what plan they were to use, but unfortunately for them, I could hear every word of it. Idiots. Although, I have to admit they came down prepared. Captains Ukitake, Kyorak, Yamamoto, Zaraki, Kuchiki, and Hitsugaya were all there, accompanied by Lieutenant Abarai, the Quincy, and Kurosaki. They looked angry enough to kill whatever lie in their path, but I had anticipated and planned for this to the extent where I knew exactly what I was going to do. Exactly.

"Let me see…" I said to myself, strolling down through the rows of broken machinery, letting my blood-deprived fingers stray over what remained of the buttons and levers. "They will split up into teams, to search for 'Aizen'. All I have to do is be careful as to where I let them search." I watched them in my peripheral vision through the screen as they did, indeed split up – into teams of two. They seemed baffled by my lack of spiritual pressure, because by now I have surely learned how to suppress it to complete invisibility. I documented everything down pat in my mind, being sure to remember exactly what was going on, and where they were heading.

It didn't take them long to split up and find groups to stay with. Kyorak paired up with Ukitake, Yamamoto with Kuchiki, Zaraki with Hitsugaya, and Abarai, the Quincy, and Kurosaki together. I made note of this carefully and watched as they all disappeared down the separate hallways that they had decided to enter. I let a few minutes pass as they walked down the halls, suddenly realizing that for the first time in many millennia, there were other souls down here with me. But this fascination only lasted so long… I had to finish.

"Well now," I said, as I watched them all on separate screens. "I can't have all of you running around trying to find me at the same time, now can I? Besides, Yamamoto, I have a score I want to settle with you… and I know just how to do it, too." I hovered my hand over the control board, watching that accursed, powerful leader of the Soul Society walk cautiously along with that stuck-up arrogant Kuchiki fellow. I smirked.

"You first," I hissed. I pressed a finger down that let me in on their conversation.

"… I just find it hard to believe that Aizen could be down here," Captain Kuchiki was stating, his dull eyes staring straight ahead of him as he and the head captain walked down the impending corridors.

"As do I, Byakuya," replied Yamamoto, dropping his professional attitude around who must have been one of his closer friends. "But you can never be too cautious."

"And what happens if we run into Aizen, or one of the other groups does?" replied Kuchiki, giving his captain a sideways glance. "Flash step to the spot?"

"Yes," replied Yamamoto, as they continued to tromp through the pitch-black halls, lit only by the dull glow of the head captain's withdrawn sword.

"I cannot help but feel that somehow we are all being foolish," Captain Kuchiki replied, walking side-by-side with his partner. "If Aizen is indeed down here, then he must have some sort of reason to be. Therefore, he has a plan. We can never underestimate him."

"Heh, not bad," I huffed at him in my accent, crossing my arms. Perhaps not all of the captains were as dull-witted as Yamamoto… although all of them were still snobbish law-abiding jerks anyway, with moments of varying personality.* However, this moment for Kuchiki would not buy him a place outside my plan.

"No," Yamamoto replied, in response to his subordinate's claims. "We must never underestimate anyone."

"Then if Aizen is down here we must be fully prepared to defeat him, which will probably not come by the sword," said Kuchiki. "Could we not trap him in the same way we did Plateado? Surely he has not yet escaped." My eyebrows went straight up. This Kuchiki fellow had more than I could give him credit for brain-wise. To a certain extent, that is.

"Ah, I forgot about Plateado," admitted Yamamoto, causing me to sneer at him.

"I could only have expected that of you," I said to him without his knowledge. I tilted my head. "Only one so arrogant as you."

"Well he hasn't appeared to us yet so far," Kuchiki said as he glanced back and forth down the long, black hall. "Let us hope he does not decide to show up. Then we will have to deal with him as well."

"At least we know we can defeat him," said Yamamoto in a scoffing tone.

"Tch," I said.

"I fear you are at fault there," Kuchiki suddenly said, glancing sideways at his captain, the latter of whom raised an eyebrow. "The only reason he is down here is because we could _not_ defeat him."

"I think I'm beginning to like you," I laughed at the black-haired captain. Yamamoto sighed.

"As you say, Byakuya," he replied. "However, if he does appear, together we can all defeat him easily." I saw the dissertation on Kuchiki's face, but he didn't say anything in opposition. I smirked.

"You will be the first to go," I stated to them, even though they could not hear me. Purposefully, my hand strayed to a certain control pad and stayed right above it, waiting for them to find the right place. They did, eventually, and came upon one small room, only as big as a small bedroom. That should serve its purpose well. A glint shone in my golden eye, as I portrayed all the hate I held for the head captain.

"An eye for an eye, a prison for a prison," I hissed under my breath, grinning.

*click!*

*THOOM*

"What the-?" Yamamoto cried, as four thick, heavy walls crashed down over all the doorways in the room. The whole structure they were in shuddered, and they struggled to keep their balance as they threatened to be thrown into the walls.

"The doors!" Captain Kuchiki called, as their only means of escape were instantly cut off. The slim light that was being cast from Yamamoto's sword went out temporarily, and in the complete darkness, stones started to crash down from the ceiling around them. I listened to their cries and grunts with a high level of amusement. I laughed at their plight as the screen nearly started shaking, the carnage in the room was so high.

The shuddering and shaking eventually slowed, though, much too soon for my liking. I gave a small sigh, but stepped closer to see what was going on – I had waited for this so long. The room lay in velvety black silence for a long, unbroken moment, disrupted by nothing, and I stood impatiently awaiting the next step. At first there came nothing, but then a small movement's noise was picked up by the speakers that I was listening through. I peered closer at the screen, and was rewarded when Yamamoto's sword started once again to glow softly. A limited circle of fading light showed, and I watched as the head captain pushed away the rubble, standing slowly and rubbing his head as if he had been hit by one of the falling rocks. He opened his eyes to look around him and saw nothing but huge piles of broken stone.

"B-Byakuya?" he asked, using one of the nearby pieces of rubble to support himself as he tried wobbly to stand. He shook his head vigorously as he tried to clear it. As the dust that had been rising around him slowly started to settle, he called out again. "Byakuya!" My delight grew when he spotted a bit of his captain's haori sticking bloodily out from underneath a large piece of rubble. Without losing a second, he raced over to the spot and then leaned down, shoving his fingers underneath the huge piece of rock.

"YAAAAHHH!" he roared, lifting the huge piece of stone with his bare hands, struggling to lift it off his friend and flip it off onto the other side with a monstrous heave. Impressive. He quickly looked down underneath, and gave a shallow gasp. The body of Byakuya Kuchiki lay underneath, smashed and bloodied… his sword shattered.

"C-captain… Yamamoto…" he coughed, as his commander got to his knees beside him, already preparing a kido spell to heal him. It was clear to all of us, however, that there was far too much damage done to correct with just a spell.

"Byakuya," Yamamoto said sorrowfully as he brought the spell closer, but Kuchiki pushed it away.

"There's… nothing you… can do," he gasped, taking the sleeve of his captain in his grasp. "Just… find… Aizen…Defeat him!" he broke out coughing.

"I…I will," Yamamoto replied, his voice shocked as he realized that one of his best officers was dying in his own, trembling hands. "Byakuya…"

"Take care…" his final words were. "Of Rukia…" Slowly, his bloodied hand loosened its hold on his captain's sleeve and fell soundlessly to the broken, cracked floor. Silence suddenly reigned, as Yamamoto, shocked, could do nothing but sit beside his subordinate's body with his mind come to a complete standstill. I let the moment wear on for a moment, as Yamamoto quietly folded Kuchiki's hands over his chest. When I'd had enough of the silence, I reached forward and flicked a switch that let me speak to that room alone.

"It has been a long time, has it not, Yamamoto?" I asked, not bothering to cover up my accent this time. The captain's head snapped up, and he looked around the room with a few tears in the corners of his hateful eyes.

"What?" he asked, slowly standing. "Is that…?"

"Plateado," I said proudly, pronouncing my own name with care. "Arturo Plateado. The very Arrancar you were just talking of a few minutes ago. Is that not a coincidence?"

"P-Plateado?" he stammered, not sure where the voice was coming from. He looked around but could not find anything in the darkening room.

"Yes," I replied. "I must congratulate you on that nice performance with your dead friend. It almost brought tears to my eyes."

"Wh-what?" he asked, his fists suddenly clenching. "You did this? YOU?" I gave my signature, evil laugh.

"Yes, I did," I replied somewhat haughtily. It was so gratifying to see rage pass over his features as he grated his teeth. "I orchestrated this whole thing. Aizen is not here. Aizen was never here, although you missed your chance to catch him when he is."

"WHAT?" Yamamoto roared in rage, suddenly realizing that he and the others had been duped by me and me alone. "This is all a trick?"

"Yes, that's right!" I laughed again, unable to keep my satisfaction down. "You have fallen, Head Captain Yamamoto! You and all of your friends are either going to get stuck down here or _die, _like your friend there. This is a trap, Yamamoto," I said. "And you all fell right into it. Now you can finally see what it is like to try and live in the inescapable prison. Now you can finally see what it's like to be me." I swiftly switched off the speaker and stood back to watch him react. He fumed.

"PLATEADOOO!" he roared at the walls and ceiling so loudly that I almost thought they would start collapsing again. Then he quieted, standing panting before Kuchiki's body, his fists balled as tightly as he could, staring listlessly down at the body of his friend. "Byakyua…" he said quietly before collapsing back to his knees before his friend. I watched with a snicker as he buried his face in his hands and stifled back tears. The great Yamamoto? _Shedding tears?_ This was a moment I would be sure to remember.

"Maybe in couple hundred centuries, you too will find out how to escape," I spat at the screen, before turning away. My shoulders heaved up and down as I laughed silently. "I'll be waiting, just in case you do."

Without another word, I sidestepped casually to the next screen, looking at the other groups. They had all respectively stopped abruptly when Captain Kuchiki's spiritual pressure plummeted downwards, and they no doubt felt the rumbling of the halls as the ceiling collapsed in that building.

"What was that?" Hitsugaya asked, turning in his tracks. Standing beside him, the towering Zaraki turned and faced in that direction. All of the others did, too, from the separate hallways and rooms in which they were standing, commenting and asking themselves questions. I gave all the screens my infectious grin, and then started rapidly moving my fingers over the buttons that studded the top of the controls, clicking and pushing them with swift movements.

"Enjoy that," I said. "And good riddance." Only half a second passed before the thick stone walls that covered the doorways of the darkened room came crashing down around the groups and crumbled the ceilings and walls. The shouts and cries and even screams of surprise and pain that they emitted while this happened soothed my nonexistent heart to an extent of utter pleasure and a feeling of satisfied revenge. Well… almost.

"This would have been better only if I were facing you on the battlefield," I spat at the struggling Soul Reapers. My golden eyes shifted slowly towards the screen that contained Kurosaki, Abarai, and the Quincy. They were unharmed, as I had left them untouched… I needed them. Turning towards their screen, I watched with an evil glint in my eye as they looked around the darkened hallway with baffled expressions. The joy I felt by getting them to realize that their friends' reiatsus were dying off, one by one, was immense. The spiritual pressures of their friends were becoming repressed and trapped beneath huge chunks of rubble. There were strong ones, and there were weak.

"B-Byakuya?" Kurosaki asked, his eyes widening. The red-haired lieutenant beside him gasped loudly and turned in the direction of his captain's now dead reiatsu.

"Captain!" he called.

"This isn't good," was all the Quincy could find to say. I snorted.

"What the hell just happened?" Kurosaki roared as he turned to face the impending darkness that came up behind them. "Why are they all falling?"

My smile widened as Captain Ukitake's spiritual pressure was crushed, and his partner, Kyorak, became entangled in a huge pile of rocks and rubble. Zaraki was only mildly injured by the collapsing ceiling, but Hitsugaya was almost instantly killed. Huh. I was expecting his especially strong reiatsu to keep him alive, but I guess it really was size that mattered in situations like this.

"What's… what's going on?" Abarai asked, his eyes wide and his hand grasping the hilt of his overused zanpakuto. "They're all dying!"

"Is it Aizen?" the Quincy asked, clearly trying to keep himself from panicking. Kurosaki was keeping a surprisingly cool head at the moment, despite his usually boisterous and 'just' personality.

"If it is then I'm going to go and kill him with my _bare hands_," the orange-haired shinigami substitute growled, himself also fingering the hilt of the sword on his back. "But we can't waste time looking for him. We have to go back and get the others, and return to the Soul Society with them before they die. We'll have to abandon this mission for now."

"Hmmm," I said, my hand moving to my chin in a thoughtful manner. "That isn't part of this operation. You can't do that." I moved my fingers to another small switch and flicked it. (Practicing with these controls for hundreds of years had got me to memorize where everything was. Handy.). Instantly, all the doors slid closed around them but one, far too powerfully thick to break through, trapping them with only one exit.

"What the-?" Kurosaki asked loudly, as the Quincy and the Lieutenant looked wildly around. The ceiling and walls started to tremble, and they all looked up towards it as small bits of rock began to fall, and the walls and floor started to shudder

"Time to leave," the Quincy said, turning and legging it for the only open door. Without waiting, the others instantly followed him, running for that last exit. As they ran, the ceiling began to fall in, crashing into the ground as it had in the other rooms, but this time nobody was smashed to pieces beneath the huge rocks. At the last moment, it seemed, they all dove out of the last door and got to safety, landing in a heap on the other side as the room collapsed in on itself with a final crash.

I clapped.

The group of warriors slowly stood, turning and looking back at the room from which they had come, as the shuddering and trembling came slowly to a stop. They were silent for a few moments as they made sure that they were all there, and as they started to realize that their only means of escape were cut off.

"I… I guess we have no choice but to go deeper," Abarai said slowly, although everything about him screamed to be going back for his captain. "There has to be another way out of here further down."

"That seems unlikely, but there's no harm in trying," the Quincy said. He turned to face the oncoming darkness before them and started walking into it. "Come on." Without words, the others turned and followed him, all silently filing into the hallway, their minds still trying to encompass the Soul Reaper's deaths. I chuckled.

"Yes, keep coming," I said to myself, as I turned away and started walking in the direction that they were heading in. It was time to swivel into action. "I'll be waiting, Kurosaki."

*As the author manages to describe Soul Reapers from a bad guy's point of view in one sentence.

**That's chapter 1. Please excuse Yamamoto's OOC-ness, but I had to. Please don't kill me for killing Byakuya, Ukitake, and Toshiro either. (GOD you don't know how hard it was to kill of Toshiro.)**


	3. Chapter 2: What One Knew

**This is chapter 2, fellas. I had SO much fun writing this, and I have no idea why. I guess I just have fun making people go OOC for a while... and this is only the beginning of what happened. Wait until we get to the other chapters!**

Chapter 2

I still remember. I still remember what it took for me to get here, deep down in this horrid hole that they put me in. As I was waiting for Kurosaki and his friends to arrive, I paced slowly back and forth in front of the monitors, my eyes closed but occasionally opening them to see the boy's progress. They were going fairly slow, practically inching their way along through the dark hallways, lit only by one of the Quincy's strange reishi devices. They were literally stumbling along through the dark, constantly stopping to argue about which direction to go in, or whether or not they were to turn back and get the others. They seemed to do nothing but bicker, and I found myself incessantly bored with what they were doing, and continued to pace. This did, however, give me plenty of time to reflect. Plenty of time to remember and reflect upon what went on to get me down here.

It started in Hueco Mundo, the desert of unceasing darkness.

It started the same way it did for every Hollow, and for every Arrancar. Because I was powerful did not mean that I was an exception – I did not choose where I was born. I died as a human from causes I can't remember, and roamed the Earth for as long as I could, consuming all human souls and Soul Reapers that came at me. I don't remember much of that. It was a dark time, confusing, and I was consumed only with the hunger. But eventually, I somehow found my way into another pack of Hollows, and we joined to form a Gillian.

Guess who was the dominant soul?

Well, it didn't take long for yours truly to realize that he was on top of the pack in that cold, large body, and to take control. The other Menos that surrounded us suddenly became very appealing to my sense of taste, and within the first few weeks that we had formed into one, we began to consume the others, and began becoming more powerful than they were. Eventually, the chain morphed into the next stage when I changed into an Adjuchas. My reason returned as my consciousness took over this new form, and the others became my source of power within me.

I still remember it clearly. That is when I gave myself the name Arturo Plateado. I became more known as the Silver One than Arturo, however, because for some reason the other Adjuchas – as few as there were – seemed to think that this was some sort of joking nickname, because of the silver color that tainted my otherwise turquoise wings. I was in the vague form of a griffin back then – half bird, half lion. Quite an interesting combination for a Hollow, and it certainly gave me an advantage over the others that I consumed so relentlessly.

But it was a tough life living out on the desert with only oneself for a weapon, with little to no food around you. Those desert memories and nightmares will haunt me forever, but without those experiences, I would not be who I am today. I met some very interesting people while I was out there, fending for myself and living off of what there was of the land, and they shaped who I was as well. In fact, the ones that I met were part of this plan of mine. They were going to help me once I got out of here, and I knew just how. I knew exactly how…

_I was walking alone, head down, limbs dragging, wings trailing the ground. I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was tired… but there was no food, water, or shelter anywhere in this huge, endless desert. The hunger was consuming, but so was the loneliness. It had been four months since I had come to this wretched place, and yet I had started suffering from the effects of being alone for as long as I had come here. I stopped, panting slightly, in my Adjuchas form, and looked up at the one thing that hung in the void of a sky. That moon was nothing short of a constant annoyance, but every once in a while it helped to know that at least there was _something_ out there with you other than Hollows. If that thing up there was indeed a moon, then maybe it housed inhabitants as well. With spirits, one never knew. _

_At any rate, this day (or night, rather) had been worse than the others. It had officially been one whole month since I had last eaten a Hollow, and I was beginning to realize that the hunger was tearing at not only my stomach, but what was left of my soul, and what was left of my body. The others who I had consumed before still powered me, but they did not feed me. I was left with almost an even emptier feeling than I'd had while I was a Hollow, and I knew that without food I wouldn't last as an Adjuchas much longer. I needed food. I needed it now. However, looking around, I saw only sand and snarled trees. _

_But, I could sense _them_. They had been somewhere in this vicinity for the past week, and I had used that time to travel to this place to find them, to ask who they were and what they were doing, and to hopefully benefit from the acquaintance. A band of Hollows led by a sole Adjuchas were here, roving the lands in a group and using symbiosis to help each other through the hard life that Hueco Mundo offered for us._

_Hollows helping one another?_

_I had to see what was going on there. I had never before encountered any Hollows that had a sense of friendship, and although I myself had never befriended anyone since my death, I became curious. I wanted to see what it looked like to have friends. And so I had crept my way towards this section of the desert to see what was going on. It was a rather hilly part of the long desert, with dunes of sand rolling in every direction, almost, as far as the eye could see. There could be Hollows hidden anywhere along this section, and I knew that my search was far from over… or was it? I could feel several reiatsus very close by, and I figured that by chance, I had managed to find the right place within the first few days of my arrival to this section of the desert._

_I wandered towards their presence, feeling my way along through the dark world by using them as my guide, sticking close to the invisible trail. Wisely, I decided to let my own reiatsu leak as I slowly approached them, to alert them to my own presence. Whether or not if they thought I was coming to consume them was one thing – having them sneak up on me and consuming ME was another. I had to be careful out here. If anything dangerous started to occur I would have to call upon my dying strength and fly out of there as fast as I could. Considering how fast and strong they must be from pack benefits, I would have to be double cautious. Yet still I crept along, walking stealthily for the sole reason that I always walked stealthily around others – keeping my spiritual pressure awake for them to know I was approaching._

_I knew when they felt me approaching. There was a spike in their spirit energies, and for a moment I paused, not knowing if they were going to double back on me and attack. I stood stock still for half a minute, waiting for the next move, but they decided to let me make it. I felt them gathering just beyond a large dune a half mile or so away, and stand facing me in a cluster awaiting my arrival, apparently. Now I proceeded with even more caution than before, but not slowing my pace. If I was going to get there at all I might as well do it faster, therefore saving time. However, it took longer than I expected anyway to arrive at the sand dune, and even more to climb it. Yet sneaking around the base and therefore giving up the higher ground would have been a mistake, so I had to climb, despite the strength it sapped out of me. _

_Thankfully, before long, I had mounted the rounded peak of the dune, and stood looking over the edge at the band of Hollows that I had been seeking so far. I was mildly surprised when I saw them, but I should only have expected as much. There were five rather large Hollow-level beasts, all gathered in a semi circle around one very small Adjuchas-level one with enormous spiritual power. The leader, I have to admit, was not a friendly-looking one, and scowled up at me in his large cat-like form with the other five around him as if legions or protection. There was a moment of slightly tense silence in the cold silvery moonlight as we stood, staring at and analyzing each other. Thankfully, this was only a moment._

"_So," the cat spoke suddenly, in a slightly rough, almost irritated voice. "You certainly took your time getting here. Mind telling us who you are?" I paused before answering, wondering why he wasn't trying to attack me yet._

"_Arturo," I finally replied slowly, even then with an accent._

"_The Silver One, eh?" one of the Hollows asked jokingly, chuckling. _

"_Silence, Diroy," another of them said quietly in a rough tone, as if he knew it was not their place to speak yet. The leader cast them an annoyed glance, and I kept my own comments to myself, save inquiry._

"_And who are you?" I asked, casting my golden eyes over the group as I crouched on all fours at the top of the sand dune._

"_I am Grimmjow," replied the Adjuchas, lifting his head higher to emphasize his name. "These Hollows are my group…. We consume everything in this desert."_

"_Do you?" I asked, settling down on top of the sand in a lying position casually, to give them a false impression. I wanted them to think I was confident, when in reality I was tired. "It must be very interesting to work together, is it not?"_

"_Much more efficient," Grimmjow replied, sitting down as well, as if to counter me. I was tempted to raise my eyebrow, but I did not, instead studying him closer._

"_So," I finally asked. "Are you not going to consume me, then?" A few of the Hollows chuckled, but their leader stayed serious, ignoring them as he stared up at me grandly from below. _

"_I think it could wait a moment," he said, firmly to me. "I think I'd be interested on why you came to us in the first place. You should have known it was like suicide."_

"_Ah, but so-called Grimmjow," I said, tilting my head. "This whole desert is a place of suicide. This whole desert is the place where Hollows drop off like flies every day."_

"_Good observation," admitted the Adjuchas. "But that doesn't explain why you came to see us."_

"_I was curious," I admitted, flitting my gaze over him and his group. "I have never seen the acts of group work together with Hollows."_

"_Yeah, but it works," said Grimmjow in that rough voice of his, chuckling. "And I can tell it would be no use to consume you now. As good as you are at keeping a straight face, your reiatsu tells me you haven't eaten in months. You're going to die soon, and become merely a Hollow again." _

"_Ah," I said, tensing. "You are a sharp one. I suppose you shall take advantage of this and consume me now?" Grimmjow tilted his head to one side at me and his face grew thoughtful, for a moment. The others around him grew silent, as if they knew that it was not their place to speak out their opinion in times like these. I slowly rose to my feet as he thought, and stood slightly shakily, looking down upon him as regally as I could. Finally, he snorted._

"_There's not enough of you left worth eating," he finally scoffed, looking me up and down. I saved the scowl I felt coming for later and kept my face passive as he continued. "But I can see that once you're strong enough, you could help us out a great deal."_

_The other Hollows made some surprised noises, and looked down at Grimmjow with wavering thoughts on the matter. He shrugged them off with a slight twitch of his paw. _

"_With two Adjuchas in our pack," Grimmjow explained. "I could do so much more than I could with just the five of you. There are many things I have wanted to do without being hindered by these huge lumbering monsters. No offense to you guys, of course." I stood there, looking down at him curiously for a moment._

"_You mean," I said carefully. "You want me to join you?" Grimmjow nodded solemnly as the others kept themselves quiet. "Well. This is unexpected."_

"_No," replied Grimmjow. "That is what you wanted from the start when you came here. You're the type who would rather spend the rest of your life alone than be consumed by another Hollow, aren't you? That leaves no other reason than joining us for coming here, doesn't it?" At this I paused. _

"_You are clever as well as powerful," I said. "I guess that _is_ why I am here. Joining you will be my only shot at getting any food. And you, Grimmjow, will become stronger than any of us, I can sense it from your reiatsu. With my help we can rise."_

_It never hurts to flatter._

"_Heh," replied Grimmjow as casually as he could, although it was clear that he enjoyed the praise – he must have been told that before. "I'm just looking for someone to help us get through here. We're looking to become Vasto Lordes. Or at least I am." He glanced back at his Hollow group to show that they could obviously never rise above Hollow Adjuchas level._

"_And so we share a common interest," I said, starting to creep down the face of the sand dune towards them, carefully. "We will both be great assets to each other, I can tell. But, before I join you, I have one request." Grimmjow raised one eyebrow._

"_And what request might that be?"_

_I came face-to-face with him as I reached the bottom of the dune, looking down on him sternly. He was a good head or two shorter than me, both in our Adjuchas forms, but he still emanated an aura of great leadership. He would rise, one day, to become a strong leader. I smirked._

"_I need something to eat," I confided. Grimmjow cracked a toothy grin, and then he finally chuckled roughly._

"_Fine," he said, humored. "We shall find a Hollow and let you consume it. Then we'll see how good you really are." _

_I grinned sinisterly back._

"_We are going to get along perfectly."_

I faded slowly back into reality from my flashback when the memory part of my mind told me to keep an eye on the screens. I blinked rapidly, and then looked back at the technological equipment to make sure that Kurosaki and his group were not closer than I thought. However, I was safe, as they were only a part of the way towards me. Their constant arguments, distractions, and suggestions dragged them onwards through the dark stumblingly slow. I gave a deep sigh and stared through them blindly as my mind lingered on my past. There had been so much more to that period of time than there looked to the naked, unsearching eye.

"I do wonder what happened to you, Grimmjow…" I said under my breath, as I stared at the screen unseeingly. "I wonder more often than you would think."

I closed my eyes and continued pacing back and forth in front of the screens slowly, my mind once more losing itself in the realm of the past.

_I stayed with Grimmjow and his group for longer than I cared to remember. I caught my first Hollow quite easily, despite my ravenous condition, and eating it was even more of a delight after so long. The others, as I came to know as Kufang, Edrad, Yylfordt, Nakeem, and Diroy, eventually learned to accept me, and we actually got along quite well. _

_Hunting was our main concern, but every once in a while, we would just relax, stretching out and lying in the pale light of the moon, pretending that it was soothing. During those rests we would talk – share stories of the biggest Hollows we consumed, or the hardest Soul Reapers we had faced. What we could remember of our basic Hollow lives was traded as jokes eventually, for even we had been once on a level with the huge, stupid beasts. We made fun of them, but we also respected them for the sole reason that they were our food source, and we had been like them once. We talked of the Gillian with more respect, but not by much. _

_Of Arrancars we talked often, for we all hoped to become like them someday. Grimmjow said he truly did not know how to become an Arrancar. He said that as long as he kept eating Hollows, his power grew, and that would eventually lead him to the answer. And as far as he knew at this point, he still had a lot of power to gain. _

_Yylfordt, on the other hand, said he had a hypothesis of how to become an Arrancar. He confided in us that he had a younger brother – Szayel Granz – and that said brother was very knowledgeable in the ways of science. He told us that he and Szayel had been fused as Hollows, and that upon reaching Hueco Mundo their… unique bond was broken, leaving each of them to go their separate ways. Upon his departure, Szayel had already ascended to Adjuchas level, and told Yylfort that he was going to become an Arrancar. He said that all it took was ripping off the mask of a Hollow, but all of us who tried it met only failure. He admitted that that was all he knew of the matter, and that Szayel had not said anything else. Chances were, Szayel was wrong. _

_In addition to Hollows, and Vasto Lordes, and Arrancars, we talked of what we would do once we became those higher-level beings. The five who followed Grimmjow expressed desires to ascend to his level, although Diroy, who could not (since Grimmjow had consumed part of him), said he would remain loyal for as long as Grimmjow was still alive. Grimmjow himself said that when he became an Arrancar, he would laugh at them all for still being Adjuchas. Eventually, he admitted that he would help them rise to his level, and then they could be sort-of equals. As he claimed, a king must have subjects. _

_When asked what I would do when I became an Arrancar – if I ever did – I answered with the idea that had been burning in my mind ever since I had regained my reason. _

"_I am going to kill all Soul Reapers," I had said, my head resting on my front paws as we lay between two sand dunes where the breeze did not reach. "I am going to use the power to cut as deep as I can into their army, and then destroy their center – the Sereitei."_

"_Talk about ambition," Grimmjow muttered from where he was adjacent to me. The others were scattered lazily about as well. "How do you expect to get very far with _that_ plan?" I responded first with a yawn before answering._

"_I think it will go well," I said, rolling onto my side and stretching out my wings, letting my tail fling itself carelessly across the sand. "From my experience, Soul Reapers are stupid. They follow the same code, speak in the same forceful way, and they just don't seem to understand. I want to end the way they teach those accursed Soul Reapers. I want to destroy their Academy so that they will understand."_

"_Understand what?" Edrad asked from where he was situated on the side of one of the sand dunes, picking his teeth._

"_Understand _us_," I replied, a deep sigh escaping my lips. _

"_Understand us?" asked Grimmjow, lifting his head and looking at me oddly. "What could there possibly be to understand?" I lifted my own head and positioned myself facing the whole group, my tone hardening._

"_They don't do anything that's right," I said fiercely, through my teeth. "They let a human soul die and then they destroy it just as soon as it's a Hollow so that they can be rid of it! They don't actually care what happens to you when you die. Their priority is to keep the balance between life and death between the Soul Society and Earth, but… there _is_ no balance. There is only right and wrong with the Soul Reapers, and they can't see that there's stuff in between. When I say they don't understand us, I mean they don't understand anything from our point of view. Not once has a single Soul Reaper imagined life from the viewpoint of a Hollow, and that's what makes them who they are. Not once!"_

_The others stared at me in silence for a moment after the short outburst, not sure what to say in light of what I had said. Of course what I had said most likely made some sort of sense to them, but I wasn't sure on which level. After a tense moment, I glanced away from them and put my head back on my paws, not sure what else to do in the current situation. _

"_I just don't see why," I said quietly. "I hate them for their incompetence." _

"_We all do," I heard Grimmjow's rough voice say from across the small clearing. I cast an amber-gold eye over him with my head still on the ground, and found his expression contemplative. He was staring at the opposite side of the sand dune upon which half the group rested, not looking at anything in particular. "Soul Reapers are the ones that drove me to Hueco Mundo, if I remember correctly. And a band of novices, at that. All I can remember about the incident is looking back and seeing the teacher showing the students what Hueco Mundo was, and why it was here."_

"_Studying us?" asked Diroy. "As if we were beasts? Sickening."_

"_Hollows _are_ beasts," Yylfordt corrected him. "But still, there are Adjuchas, and Arrancars here. The Soul Society is never here, but I have sensed groups of them on the edges of this place before."_

"_Bastards," Kufang commented._

"_My point exactly," I said again, my voice still serious. I laid down on my side again before I continued. "I'm going to kill them for everything_ _they've done and are doing to us. I want to erase them completely."_

"_And I'll do it with you," said Grimmjow calmly. I gave him another glance, but this time I wasn't surprised. I took in a deep breath and then spoke the two words that I never thought I would speak._

"_Thank you," I said slowly, closing my eyes and letting the unfamiliar feeling of certainty flood my heart._

"_You're welcome," Grimmjow yawned offhandedly – yet somehow I managed to catch a tone of meaning in his voice. "Just make sure you don't go and try to do it alone, you know? You'll just end up dead… again."_

"_Don't worry," I said, stretching more. "With all of us together we'll never be alone again."_

My mind slowly came back to reality once more, and my eyes flicked open quietly when I heard noise made by Kurosaki's group through the screens. Turning my head to see what was going on, I saw only that they had discovered a room full of old Central 46 records, and were fascinated by it. Swiveling my gaze back away, I found no consolation in the blackness that surrounded me, broken by nothing except the flickering light cast by the screens. I lowered my gaze to the floor as I paced again much slower than before, barely covering ground I was dragging my feet so hard.

"If only…" I said quietly to myself, emitting a deep sigh that echoed through the small room back and forth. "If only we hadn't been separated, Grimmjow, by that band of Soul Reapers on the edge of Hueco Mundo that day… Then we would both be above ground, killing the very ones who are now seeking me…"

I glanced at another one of the screens as I passed it by, and saw Captain Kyorak helping Captain Ukitake to his feet. Apparently I had been wrong about his death… even now, I felt his reiatsu returning, slowly but surely, as his friend assisted him and they surveyed a way to get out of their small prison. I watched them support each other with a blank expression, but something deep inside my mind was pricked with the long-lost sensation that Grimmjow had shared with me.

"Friendship, hm?" I asked, running my pale finger down the length of the face of the screen, watching the two captains find their bearings in the darkness. I closed my eyes and looked at the floor. "If that is friendship, then why wasn't I able to keep Grimmjow and the others from being driven away? Why wasn't I able to kill those pesky Soul Reapers the first chance I had, instead of hesitating the way I did, and then get caught by that damned kido spell?" I slammed my fist on the wall beside the screen, sending a bang resonating through the room. "Why wasn't I able to find them after that?" I cried at the empty room.

I let myself calm down a little, breathing deeply for a minute or two before standing and then staring with a cold gaze at the screen. The two of them were still there, helping each other to clear away the rubble. I spoke at them through clenched teeth.

"And I'm going to kill you all for making that happen."

**I hope you didn't think they were _too_ OOC. I just got a little carried away with my inner thoughts... still, I hope you enjoyed. I hope you know that I'm the type of alien who can't live without reviews! If I go too long without them, I start to die!**


	4. Chapter 3: Superfluous

**Sorry that this took a bit longer to come out than the others. I was lacking inspiration, and I had to cram for school before the Christmas break. Also, in Word, this chapter is exactly 6 pages, and therefore shorter than chapter 2. Well, anyway, I hope you enjoy. Please feel free to point out mistakes or anything if you see them. How are you guys likin the plot?**

**Superfluous: (adj.) - Overexcessive, unwanted/in the way**

**Also: I own that gift I see under the Christmas tree, but I do not own Bleach. Kubo Tite owns that. (Unless, of course, he gave me Bleach in that box! *cross fingers*)**

Chapter 3

Kurosaki and his crew were certainly taking their time getting to where I was waiting for them. I kept watching them out of the corner of my eye as they made their bumbling way along through the dark, keeping one eye on them and the other on the captains. Zaraki, as huge and tough as he was, was devastated to find Hitsugaya dead underneath the rubble and rocks. It was probably then that he praised his teachers upon his entering the Soul Society Academy for making him take kido classes. Those classes ended up paying off for him after all, for the intensity of his concentration allowed him to somehow keep the smaller captain from death… somehow. This disappointed me.

"This disappoints me," I said, repeating my thoughts at the screen that showed Zaraki finishing off his healing spell and watching as Hitsugaya stirred, but did not wake. The huge captain showed signs of relief, but then he settled back into his regular character as soon as he had stabilized his little friend and recovered him from the brink of death. He stood and looked around at the small room in an annoyed manner.

"I spend all my time wishing Yachiru was a quiet girl who didn't chatter in my ear all the time, but the minute you need her she's not there!" the man growled, looking around at the stones and rubble. "If that Toshiro kid hadn't gotten squished then we would just blast our way out of here. Now I have to do the freakin' work by myself!" However, instead of complaining further, he discarded his tattered haori and started clearing a path for them both to escape by using a mixture of physical strength and reiatsu. I gave a resigned sigh.

"I guess it _will_ be somewhat of a pleasure to face the rest of you in battle later on," I commented to the screens, as the various captains began to figure out how to find their ways out of the rooms. The return of their spiritual pressures – save Kuchiki's – seemed to please the group that Kurosaki led, and they spiritedly picked up their pace, much to my bored relief.

"Seems like everyone's back up," Kurosaki said, looking back as their captains' spirits returned. Abarai kept silent, but the other two threw sympathetic glances at him as his own captain's reiatsu stayed as cold and nonexistent as it had before.

I was deaf to their words, as they continued. I wasn't listening, and had no intention to listen, as my mind was slowly wandering back to the white, blank sands of Hueco Mundo. In my mind's eye, I was standing on a huge sand dune, scanning the desert around me for any signs of a wander band of Hollows led by one Adjuchas. I had been searching for endless hours, endless days, almost forgetting to feed myself in the process. That sand dune had been the last one I had stood upon while I was searching, as I decided that this was all a hopeless cause. I had finally decided to give up. After too many long days that stretched somehow into weeks, I had seen no sign of my previous group, and decided that even if I scoured the entire desert three times over, I would probably never find them. They were always moving, they were always hiding – masking their spiritual pressures towards anyone.

They probably believed I was dead. They were driven away by the Soul Reapers before I could escape my bonds, and therefore most likely fell under the impression that I was killed by them shortly afterwards. My spiritual pressure had, indeed, plunged sharply after they used me as a mere example for a certain type of reiatsu-containing device, but it hadn't lasted long. I soon broke free from what they had caught me in, half out of fear, half out of my willingness to rejoin my group. However, I had no such luck, as the extraordinarily large band of Soul Reapers drove me in the opposite direction for what could have been miles. Yet how could only a few minutes drive us apart for eternity? I never found out.

But, I did find something else, as strange and harrowing as it was. And I found it only a month after I had been separated from my original group.

_I was in the middle of stalking a Hollow, creeping upon it from behind. There was no wind, thank goodness, but if there had been, I would have been on the other side of the dunes, away from the beast. The beast itself was completely oblivious to everything going on around it, and was just tromping about acting like a Hollow should when it's out in the middle of the Hueco Mundo desert all by itself… and hungry. I lowered my body to the ground and began creeping like a cat- thanks to whoever had got me to Adjuchas level that I was half lion – and slipped around the edge of a small sand dune. Poking my head out a fraction of an inch, I saw the Hollow sniffing the wind for reiatsu intently, in search of food. However, my own spiritual pressure was fully masked and therefore this mere animal was completely oblivious to me. Excellent._

_I pulled my head back around the end of the sand dune and pondered for a moment. Which would be the best way to attack? By leaping onto it from behind on the ground, or latching onto it from above by using my spiritual wings? Tough choice, but I finally decided that a simple attack from the ground would be best and probably the easiest way to get a chomp out of the thing. That's really all I needed – one bite out of a Hollow and the rest was easy. My stomach grumbled in hunger and interrupted my thoughts, so I got close to the ground once more and glanced around the edge of the sand dune once more. _

_This was going to be tasty._

_But, I had to wait for the right moment. I couldn't just go barging out there right in front of the thing and make a big show out of it, leaving myself open for the Hollow to lash out at me if it chose to. Really, they can do a lot of damage if they want to. Plus, if it even got one bite out of _me_, then I would never be able to ascend to Vasto Lorde level. I would have to plan this out or suffer the consequences. One last look around the edge of the sand dune was all it took, and I saw that the Hollow had turned away from me and was facing the wide open desert, still on the lookout for reiatsu. A satisfied grin crept up my face as the pleasant thought of a good meal in the near future drifted through my mind. I licked my lips. Time for the fun to begin._

_Without a sound, I turned and crept around the corner of the dune soundlessly, and began stalking up towards the Hollow from behind as it raised its boar-like head towards the sudden breeze. Luckily, I was downwind of him, and was therefore safe. Keeping my claws and/or paws spread out on the sand for silence, I started up at a run towards the beast, lifting my wings and keeping my back arched, so that I could hopefully get a little lift as I struck. Still at a run, I launched myself into the air with a roar (it's hard not to roar when one is lunging for a Hollow), when suddenly…_

_WHAM_

_Eyes wide, I suddenly realized that the horizon had tilted at a catastrophic angle. Not only that, but I was flying sideways through the air with another Adjuchas right on top of me. What? Had I let my guard down? This was impossible. We landed on the ground with a loud thud, sending up clouds of sand in all directions, as the uncharacteristically huge Adjuchas-level pounded me to the ground mercilessly, sending us both tumbling across a short stretch of land. We rolled for a few yards, and upon stopping I leapt to my feet and backpedaled away from my attacker, still dumbstruck. _

_This monster was indeed huge. The thing stood on two feet instead of four, rising majestically above me a good six or seven feet, with a strangely large amount of pairs of arms sprouting from its middle. Its head was large, and its mouth spread literally from ear to ear, with both the top and bottom jaw sporting more teeth than could barely fit in them. Its eyes were mere slits, narrowed at me hatefully with black sclera as two wing-like protrusions carved off his face and spread out like antennae. All of his six arms sported long, evil claws, and his whip-like tail was snapping back and forth as it stood in front of me. Needless to say, my eyes widened and I backed up a pace or two._

"_And just what do you think you are, tiny?" the monster spat at me in a scratchy voice that was just as huge as its body. The Hollow behind him had turned and was now watching us, its attention caught. I must have shrunk two sizes as I scooted away from the monstrosity. I had never seen an Adjuchas so large. _

"_I'm hungry, that's what," I said back, slowly turning sideways and trying to slink away from the thing. However, it matched my every step as it stared me down, keeping itself between me and the Hollow behind it. We both scowled._

"_Well why don't you go find someplace else to find a meal, shorts," the monster said, emphasizing on our size difference. The Hollow in the background chose to stay where it was, for some reason, and watch our little proceedings with curiosity. Stupid beast._

"_I was just leaving, I said, backing away as fast as I dared. However, the Hollow behind the Adjuchas suddenly spoke._

"_Nnoitra," it said in a relatively young-sounding voice. The huge Adjuchas turned its head in the smaller one's direction._

"_What now, Tesla? Can't you see I'm in the middle of eating someone? And I thought I told you to call me Master!" he shouted. I raised my eyebrow, both at the fact that they were speaking to each other on friendly terms, and that the towering Adjuchas was going to endeavor to eat me._

"_Sorry Master Nnoitra," replied this so-called Tesla. "I was just going to ask, do you think it would be wise to consume him?"_

"_Yeah, do you think?" I asked, continuing to circle around in an attempt to get myself away from him._

"_You shut up," scowled Nnoitra at me, sneering. I sneered back, and he looked back at the strange Tesla Hollow curiously. "And you! Whaddya mean, is it wise to consume him?"_

"_I mean, sir," replied Tesla. "That he is a higher level than you. If you try to fight him he will beat you."_

"_What kind of lousy statement is that ya moron?" the huge Adjuchas asked, giving Tesla an annoyed glance. "I can beat anybody, anywhere! No matter what, too!"_

"_Yes but Nniotra-sama…" Tesla started to say, but he was cut off when his 'master' turned away abruptly to face me again._

"_Besides," he hissed at me. "He looks… filling." _

"_What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, giving him a strange, half-sarcastic look. He rolled the slits that were his eyes and then pulled himself up to full height._

"_That means I'm going to eat you," he said calmly, as if this was no trivial matter. I was inclined to disagree._

"_I would rather you not," I replied, still circling around him low to the ground. "And besides, your friend is right. I am a higher level Adjuchas than you are. You wouldn't be able to defeat me."_

"_Oh, ya think?" asked Nniotra through his many, many teeth. I didn't respond as I continued to circle him. "Well _I_ think that you're wrong, little fella. I think you're goin' down, and right about now, too. Hope ya enjoyed life!" he made to lunge at me, but suddenly his friend, Tesla, jumped in between us, facing Nnoitra._

"_Master Nnoitra!" he cried, at his superior/friend. _

"_Tesla!" Nnoitra yelled at him, his voice enraged, as he abruptly stopped his attack. "Get out of the way you idiot! What do you think you're doing?"_

"_I refuse to let you kill yourself!" he shouted back, in a very loyal tone. Had I been watching from a distance it would have brought patriotic tears to my eyes to see one Hollow so loyal to another, but since I was right in the middle of the whole thing it didn't really occur to me to feel in such a way. All I wanted right now was to get out of here._

"_Kill myself? Kill myself?" Nnoitra screeched, not at all happy with the way Tesla had just described how the fight that we didn't hold would have turned out. "I'm the toughest Adjuchas alive! What could possibly happen to me?"_

"_Nnoitra-sama, his reiatsu surpasses yours," Tesla stated meekly. "If he were to get only one bite out of your Hollow mask, then you will never be able to become a Vasto Lorde."_

"_You don't think I know that, you idiot?" Nnoitra roared at his friend Tesla. The smaller Hollow backed up a step, but didn't give up._

"_Master Nnoitra, determine his reiatsu!" he shouted. "It would only take him a few minutes of battle to defeat you." Scowling deeply, the huge Nnoitra beast turned and gave me a sizing-up look. He raised his eyebrow when he found that my spiritual pressure did indeed exceed his, and by a substantial margin, too. His already angry expression got angrier._

"_So it is true," replied Nnoitra. "That your reiatsu is strong. Perhaps stronger than mine, even… but that still doesn't mean that you can beat me!"_

"_Hey, listen to your friend there," I said, suddenly going on the offensive. I pulled myself up to full height and spread out my wings as I stalked around him instead of slinking. Now that I realized that I was more powerful than him, my wariness of his size lessened and I lost my submissive stance. "If I end up having to fight you I'll just consume him as soon as I'm done with you."_

_This seemed to strike a nerve somewhere._

"_What?" Nnoitra roared, swinging around to face me abruptly, sending a little cloud of white sand up around his clawed feet. _

"_I said that as soon as I'm done killing you, I'm going after your friend," I repeated, my tone now even and calm. "Because now I can see that although your size would have given you an indefinite advantage over anyone that was ranked under you, I have the advantage here because I have consumed more Hollows." Nnoitra growled._

"_Is that the only reason that you think you can win, eh?" he spat at me as he continued to follow me in the circle we were implanting into the dust. "You seem to be a little bold about your own power." _

"_Tch," I scoffed. "Says the person who only a moment ago thought he was going to consume me. 'I'm the toughest Adjuchas alive', hm?"_

"_Shut up," the Nnoitra Hollow seethed, following me with his slits of eyes. "Now look here, if you plan to battle me, than it'll only be with me, got that? You don't have any business going after a helpless Hollow like Tesla." Tesla huffed in the background, but we paid him no heed._

"_Yes, actually, I do," I said, tilting my head at him in an antagonizing manner. "Why would I just pass up the opportunity of feasting on a protected Hollow? Surely, since you are looking out for him, he is well fed. But since you _are_ protecting him, this means he is also relatively defenseless. Am I right?"Nnoitra gritted his numerous teeth and chose not to respond. I gave a low chuckle. "I figured as much. He wouldn't last two minutes without you."_

"_Enough," he hissed under his breath as I cocked my head the other way. I glanced at the Tesla Hollow._

"_You seem to rely on him quite a bit," I said._

"_He is my master," the Hollow said back flatly. "I live only to serve him."_

"_Oh, is that how it is then?" I asked, glancing back and forth between them. "Seems unlikely to have the master protecting the servant instead of the other way around."_

"_It usually _is_ the other way around, for you information," Nnoitra Adjuchas snapped. Seeing him get all worked up about the subject amused me, for some reason. Having my friends driven away and being forced to forage alone for a few months must have made me irritable and thirsty for violence. I just felt like I needed to take my anger out on something – or someone. After bottling it up inside of myself for so long I just wanted to… hurt someone, make them feel the pain that I'd been feeling for these past few months. _

"_How about…" I said slowly, glancing at the Tesla Hollow and then back at Nnoitra, slyly. "I just consume him now!" Without another word I crouched low to the ground, quickly calculating my next move. Without letting Nnoitra get a chance to figure out what I was doing, I lunged straight up into the air above the Adjuchas' head, launching straight away from the huge beasts' claws as he lashed out at me._

"_No!" Nnoitra cried, trying to catch me as I leaped over his head. It was no difficult task to clear him, and although the claws on all of his hands were extraordinarily sharp, I managed to evade them all easily. The Hollow I was after was too slow to react to me coming, and I smashed into him at full speed, sending him down in a cloud of sand. One, quick bite out of his mask, and I leaped off of him just as fast as I had tackled him, taking away the key to his evolution with me._

"_You bastard!" Nnoitra roared as I leaped into the air and flew up into the sky. I glanced back down to find him standing beside the Tesla beast, roaring up at me with that extraordinarily large mouth of his, his expression furious. "You're going to pay for his, I'm going to find you!" he cried. _

"_Heh," was all that came to mind for me to say. As I spiraled away into the distance, enjoying the bit of power that I had gained from the Hollow's mask, my subconscious somehow said that I should keep an eye out for that Nnoitra person. His threat to find me didn't sound as empty as I'd like it to sound. Still, as I flew away with the frustrated roaring still reaching my ears, it seemed to me that I had made a clean getaway. If I was in luck, I would never see their faces again._

I snapped suddenly back into reality when the sound of falling rock ground with extremely loud static hit me. I jumped, and whirled to face the screen from which the sound had come from, and was surprised to find the whole screen blanked out in white with nothing but dust. I walked up to it swiftly, trying to figure out whose it was. I glanced over at the screen that still showed Kurosaki, and luckily found him and his friends unharmed. I would need them that way. Giving a sigh of relief, I turned and looked back at this screen.

"Curse the world!" I heard Zaraki yell, and then watched as he rose from the rubble. "Stupid Couldn't those Central 46 idiots have built this place with a little more care! Well come on, shorty. Let's get back to Squad Four."

I gave another sigh, but more of an exasperated one. I watched as the monstrous captain lifted the smaller one onto his back, and then picked his way out of the destroyed room. Finally deeming the matter over, I turned away and paced back to stand in front of Kuroski's screen. As I watched them, my mind turned back to my most recent flashback.

"Well," I said to myself, running a hand through my turquoise hair as if to help the memory disappear. "I'm glad we never _did_ meet again, Nnoitra." I let out another breath of relief. "And the chances of us meeting again are so slim, that it most likely won't happen. Lucky me."

**Well folks, that's chapter 3. This is what my Honors English teacher defines as 'Dramatic Irony', when a character doesn't know something but the audience does. Hooked? Hm? Oh, and P.S. if you review, not only will I turn out chapters faster, but you will get mentioned in the next installment. Thank you for reading!**


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